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CORNISH NASTIE

Fears for beachgoers as ‘great white shark’s fin’ spotted off UK coast

A woman captured an image of what appears to be a shark's fin off the Cornish coast

A GIANT dorsal fin looms from the sea sparking fears a great white shark is stalking the Cornish coast.

Swimmers were told to beware as experts called the sighting exciting and terrifying.

A woman managed to get this snap of what looks like a shark's fin
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A woman managed to get this snap of what looks like a shark's finCredit: Facebook/Jacquie Williams
The 'fin' was seen off the south Cornish coast by a woman in Gunwalloe, near Porthleven
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The 'fin' was seen off the south Cornish coast by a woman in Gunwalloe, near PorthlevenCredit: Facebook/Jacquie Williams

Gran Jacquie Williams, 64, noticed the ominous shape 100ft off Gunwalloe beach, Porthleven, on Saturday.

Jacquie, who was with daughter Lindsay and her grandchildren, said: “It’s left me quite scared. It looked huge.

“We swim in the sea there when it’s a bit warmer. I’m going to have second thoughts now.

“The kids were stunned. It definitely wasn’t a seal or anything else. It was a big shark.”

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Her son-in-law, Gazza Laidlaw, shared the pic on a Facebook group and said: “Any winter swimmers might want to proceed with extreme caution as it looks rather large.”

Naturalist and shark-spotter ­Hayley Bisofsky-Pope said: “It’s definitely not a porbeagle, basking or thresher shark. This is exciting and terrifying in equal measures.

“I’ve said it for a while that it makes no sense why we don’t have great whites here.

“We have favourable sea temperature and good fish stock and a fresh supply of seals. If it is a white we will begin seeing its impact on the seal population.”

Other experts have said great whites could be swimming up from the Med.

And in July a woman was bitten on the leg by a blue shark while snorkelling off Penzance.

The woman said she thought the fin was too large for it to be a basking shark (pictured) which are often seen off the coast of the UK
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The woman said she thought the fin was too large for it to be a basking shark (pictured) which are often seen off the coast of the UKCredit: BBC
Naturalist Hayley Bisofsky-Pope said it makes sense that a great white shark could be in British waters
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Naturalist Hayley Bisofsky-Pope said it makes sense that a great white shark could be in British watersCredit: Getty
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